Nuns gather outside papal conclave at Sistine Chapel in Vatican City

VATICAN CITY — There may have been no women allowed inside College of Cardinals as they voted to elect Robert Prevost Pope Leo XIV, but there were plenty of female worshippers outside waiting for the result.

Among the regular pilgrims, tourists and assorted onlookers, were groups of nuns. There are around 600,000 Catholic nuns around the world, and they dedicate their lives to a variety of religious service, like charitable work, living in seclusion in monasteries and focusing on prayer.